


Her Name Was...

by lovablegeek (allfireburns)



Series: April Coffin [1]
Category: Rent
Genre: Angst, Death, Gen, Monologue, POV First Person, Pre-Canon, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-04-07
Updated: 2006-04-07
Packaged: 2017-10-09 04:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/83245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allfireburns/pseuds/lovablegeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her name was April. To be more specific, her name was April Sarah Coffin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Name Was...

She died. Her name was April. To be more specific, her name was April Sarah Coffin. My baby sister, who grew up too hard, too fast.

My parents made me promise to take care of her when she moved to the city. I was the responsible one, steady, dependable; she'd always been the black sheep, artistic, as independent and strong-willed as the west wind. She _needed_ looking after.

I brought her into the loft. She and Maureen hit it off right away, both of them wild, flirtatious, and oh-so-sure of themselves. The two of them together were like hell on wheels in a red dress. But it wasn't Maureen who brought her down.

No, that was Roger. Mark always blamed April for the drugs, but Mark was blind when it come to Roger, always had been. April saw Roger as a challenge, the sort of thing she couldn't resist. She wasn't in the loft a full week before she started going after him.

"Yes, Mom, I'm taking care of her."

_Yes, Mom, she's fine. I'm just not doing a damn thing while my roommate fucks my baby sister. I'm just standing by while they both get high. Everything's fine, Mom._

But it was April. If I even tried to say anything, she'd scream, cry, anything to get her way. _You're not the boss of me, I'm an adult, I can take care of myself, fuck off, Benny!_ I gave over every time.

I almost believed her too. Sure, she could take care of herself. April had always taken control of her own life. I never guessed she'd take control of her own death too.

And afterwards… Close on Roger, poor Roger, lost his girlfriend after she found out about the disease he gave her, spends half a year lost in self-pity…

How about close on Benny, who couldn't protect his baby sister, couldn't keep his promise to keep her safe? Who had to call his parents and tell _them_…

"Yeah, Mom? April… April slit her wrists in the bathroom last night.

"…No, Mom. She's not okay."


End file.
